11/01/2024
Labels Don't Help
By Michael Russeau
Now more than ever, people are desperately in search of something on which to base their identity. Some search for it in 23andMe, others try to find it in race, nationality or gender. But, why is that? Identity is a basic human and emotional construct. It gives us a sense of belonging and confidence. It serves as a foundation on which to build our self-esteem and values. Today, people are being encouraged to find their identity in labels; labels associated with race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, national origin, and the like. But, is this helpful? It seems like we spent a lot of effort in the later half of the last century trying to eliminate the labels that we placed on others and now, we are being encouraged to place labels on ourselves. And do this in an effort to fashion a personal self defined identity. Labels however, though they may create a sense of belonging, tend to distinguish us from others and give the impression that there is a right or a wrong identity. I think that this is a reckless approach and nothing more than a Trojan Horse and a form of racism that we are encouraged to impose on ourselves and by which we are once again enslaved.
No other written work addresses identity better than the Bible. Genesis 1:1 (the very first words of the Bible) opens with the statement:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
In this we find the answer to the question, how did everything come into existence? And, later on in the chapter we are introduced to our true identity.
"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
Since the word "image" in the original Hebrew means “likeness” or “resemblance” of God, we can conclude that our true identity can only be found in him. Although many try to argue against the authenticity of the Bible, one must marvel at how comprehensively it answers the questions of our existence and identity; questions that continue to elude philosophers and scientists alike.
Surely, labels are the unfortunate brainchild of misguided social scientists who base their work on the notion that there is no God. If we have learned anything from history, we learn that labels do more to divide than unite, breed distrust and spread hate. What happened to the idea that we are all human, that we come from one common ancestry and therefore the same and equal?
The Book of Genesis (written to a ethnic group of slaves who had lost touch with their history and identity) didn't stop there; it went on to inform them of who and whose they were, their future and purpose:
Chosen, Holy & Treasured:
“God says, ‘But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend’". Isaiah 41:8
"For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." (Deuteronomy 7:6)
Imagine how this might have felt to a race of people who had been oppressed and enslaved all their lives and then to be called “chosen”, “holy” and “his treasured possession” by the Creator God himself. And, if it was not enough that God told them where they came from, who and whose they were and that they were chosen, holy and treasured; scripture goes on to inform them that they have a future. A future homeland that God will give them as their own and that he has a beautiful plan and purpose for them as well.
Future & Homeland:
“Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' ” Exodus 32:13
Plan & Purpose:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6b
It was not only God's desire to bless them but to use Israel as an example and a witness to the Gentile nations so that they too might believe, be blessed and be saved. And to bring about this salvation from one of their own descendants: the promised Christ and Eternal King Jesus.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. Ephesians 2:13-16
This is why the testimony of Jesus, his disciples and the Bible are called “The Good News”. It is because it brings hope where there is no hope, worth where there is no worth, purpose where there is just hard labor, joy where there is no joy and because it rights the wrongs of injustice, racism and sin itself and it establishes our worth, informs our identity and our future.